GOALI: Heterogeneous 3D Integration of Electronic, Optical, and Structural Platform for Neural Microsystems

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The objective of this program is to define a hierarchical integration architecture that allows allthe heterogeneous components required for electrical and optical interface with neurons can bedirectly integrated on a micromachined probe substrate with a low-rise profile for high-densitystudies of neural networks in behaving animals. The implemented microsystem aims to be ageneric platform technology for scalable, adaptable and reconfigurable hybrid integration.The intellectual merit is in a number of important areas, including the formation of highdensityinterconnects to hybrid electronic chips, hermetic encapsulation of these chips onmicromachined platforms, the use of magnetically-aligned anisotropic conductive adhesives forhigh-density lead transfers, the monolithic integration of highly-flexible parylene cables intoprobes formed using completely dry-etched process flows, and the development of hermetic,low-profile packages that are compatible with both the cables and the hybrid circuitry.The broader impacts are in realizing tools to permit revolutionary progress in ourunderstanding of neural circuits and systems. The work will also provide a platform for realizingimproved prostheses designed to overcome disorders such as severe epilepsy, Parkinson?sdisease, and, perhaps, paralysis. Though important these breakthroughs in health care will be, theimpact of the work should be much broader, especially in combining MEMS-based sensors withembedded computing and wireless connectivity, as the next major frontier in microelectronics,coupling it to the non-electronic world.